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Surrey teen musician earns accolades at L.A. talent convention

Ashley Pater’s ‘Red Sneakers’ among songs in current Searchlight contest
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Musician/model Ashley Pater in a promo photo.

Surrey teen Ashley Pater has returned from Los Angeles with some accolades.

She was an award winner in a singing competition and first runner-up in songwriting during last month’s International Model & Talent Convention.

The Fraser Heights-area talent is gunning for a career in music, and frequently performs at local events.

“Last year Ashley had over 100 performances in the Lower Mainland and has won local talent events,” agent Dale Harding, of White Rock-based Pizzazz International School of Personal Development, said in a release.

“She is receiving a lot of interest from the music industry in Nashville. Ashley is currently considering whom she will sign with.”

Pater’s “Red Sneakers” song is entered in the 2019 Searchlight contest, CBC Music ’s annual hunt for Canada’s undiscovered musical talent.

“She’s a storyteller,” says a post on ashleypater.com. “Through her music she expresses feelings and moments that we can all relate to. In every song, Ashley always finds a way to get true meaning across to her listeners, while creating a forever ear worm.”

Last April, Pater celebrated her 15th birthday with the release of a five-song EP, Wild Roses, and a performance at Surrey City Hall’s Centre Stage theatre. At the time, she was a Grade 9 student at Fraser Heights Secondary.

The tunes were recorded at Four Destinations studio, or 4D, in North Vancouver with the North Delta-based duo of bass player Conor Brennan and guitarist Connor Neidig.

Pater has been performing music since age nine, and has focused on writing her own songs.

At Centre Stage, she described her unique songwriting techniques for an audience of family, friends and new fans.

”I’ll stand in front of a mirror and I’ll use a dry-erase marker – not a Sharpie because my mom would kill me – to write lyrics all over it until completely filled and I have my song,” Ashley explained. “And the other way, which I tend to do more often now, is I’ll get a notebook and I’ll start drawing pictures. I’m not the best artist so sometimes I don’t really know what I’m drawing, but I make sense of it and turn it into a song.”

Locally, Pater recently performed during a Vancouver Giants hockey game at Langley Events Centre and also at the Art of Lights lantern festival at Cloverdale’s Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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